We are back in Tokyo - arrived on Thursday and still recovering from the jet lag. It has been tougher coming back than it was going to the US. The only benefit is Miyako actually sleeps during nap time - so much so that I have to wake her up. Everyone is curious to know what it is like back here, and I must say, it is not all that different than Tokyo pre-earthquake. Some supplies are low, such as bottled water, but if you go to the stores early enough, you can typically find bread, rice, eggs, fruit, yogurt, and milk. I pick up bottled water whenever I see it, simply out of precautionary measures for myself, baby K and Miyako. We are letting Kan drink the tap water. :) He figures if he gets a little radiation, he may grow a bit taller. In all seriousness, the water in Tokyo is fine - the US embassy even sent me an email saying it was safe to drink. We are trying to do bottled water when we can as an extra extra precautionary. The main difference is energy conservation. The city is not as lit up as it normally is. We can normally see a bright Tokyo Tower or Rainbow Bridge at night from our balcony, but the lights are currently off to conserve energy. Underneath the train stations, lights are dimmed and escalators are no longer running, just elevators. What does this mean? Well, Kan has to walk more and my elevator frustration is heightened as I have to wait even longer behind people who can actually take the stairs, but simply choose not to. So, we can live with these minor inconveniences.
It feels so good to be back at "48." Miyako started a sports class today and had a lot of fun. I go to the doctor tomorrow to see Baby K - we are down to 4 weeks and counting. I have not done near the "nesting" that I intended to do pre-earthquake, but that is okay. I am excited to meet the little bit. A lot of my expat friends are still gone. Several good friends plan to come back at the end of April or beginning of May. Some though are gone for good as their term was almost over once the earthquake hit. It is a bit sad to not be able to say goodbye. Life continues on as normal. Our church is doing amazing things in terms of helping with the relief up north. I hope to get over to the community room this week and check out the supplies they are in need of and see how we can help. They are taking supplies up about twice a week. I have felt a few more aftershocks since we came back, but they have not been bad at all. And thankfully I did not get too scared. It helped though that Kan was home when they happened.
We celebrated my 34th birthday on Saturday. If I had not been so tired we probably would have ventured out a little bit, but we stayed in and relaxed at home. I got myself a pedicure, which I had not had in over a year, and we ate some good Indian food at the mall next door. It was low key and relaxing, just what our family needed. I love Tokyo in the spring time. The cherry blossoms will be blooming soon and it is such a beautiful time - reminds you of new life, which I am praying the people of Japan find in Christ in the aftermath of this horrible experience.
We had a great visit back in the US. It was short and sweet. Miyako was a super traveler, even though she kept saying "I don't like airplane rides. I like train rides better." She adjusted well to the jet lag going to the US. She enjoyed playing at Grandma's and Papaw's house, seeing her Fox cousins and Nana, and meeting some of mama's friends. Mama and Daddy enjoyed seeing good friends and family and eating at some of our favorite places you cannot find in Tokyo. Time went by really fast but it was definitely a great visit. We were able to pack in a lot of people in a short amount of time, and really enjoyed ourselves.
Thank you for your prayers for us as we traveled and made some difficult decisions about what next to do. I have had nothing but the peace of God being back here in Tokyo. There is no doubt at all that this is where we are supposed to be today, April of 2011. I have posted a few pics of us with different friends at our visit to Lexington.
No comments:
Post a Comment